The Foreshadowing
by xoxAmyxox
Summary: Ziva has a feeling...PLEASE READ AND REVIEW...I HAVE SACRIFICED A LEVEL REVISION FOR THIS FICTION! THANK YOU! Rating T just in case TIVA
1. Chapter 1

Boom

A/N I've been really naughty to write this because I should be revising for my A Levels but I just couldn't concentrate on them until I'd at least started this. This plot is based on a Grays Anatomy episode in the second season and I thought the idea might work in the context on NCIS.

Pairing: A little bit of everyone really, mainly TIVA and McAbby with a little bit of Gabby and Giva if you squint!

Disclaimer: I…sob…own…sob…nothing…All Characters belong to the humble producers of NCIS and the Grays Anatomy plot belongs to the writers of Grays Anatomy. No copyright infringement or anything like that purposefully intended. If you think it is lawful please say so and I'll scrape the whole thing! I'm just working the plot line honest!

Summary: Ziva had a feeling...

The alarm blared out as it usually did at 4.30am but Ziva was unusually already awake. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was but something didn't feel right, something was wrong. She didn't know what it was about this day of all days but she just knew something bad was going to happen, whether it was to her or something else, the chill in her bones told her that life was going to change. She felt like today was the day she was going to die.

She shakily got out of bed and stumbled into the shower letting the steaming hot water cascade over her body in an attempt to wash the feeling away but when she emerged from the shower, the sensation was still as evident as ever. She set off on her early morning run, more alert than usual but determined not to let this odd feeling interfere with her strict routine however the distraction pulling at her mind made her late for work. She cursed under her breath as she hastily walked to work, not taking the risk of driving.

*

Gibbs stood in front of the plasma screen looking slightly uneasy. Not a single case had occured in the last few days and it was starting to make him feel restless. Tony approached him up to him.

It's been a quiet week, hasn't it Boss?" he said idily sipping at his coffee.

"I know" Gibbs replied irritably

"That's a bad sign" Tony said trying to identify what Gibbs was looking at. All it seemed to be was some news channel.

"I know that. Don't you think I know that?" Gibbs snapped and turned to face Tony. He snatched the coffee off him and took a sip of it himself. Disgruntled at the taste he frowned and chucked the coffee in the near by waste bin.

"Hey!" Tony said with a frown.

McGee approached them with a look of interest on his face. Thinking that something worth the interest was going on.

"It's a quiet week" He reiterated peering over Tony's shoulder, Tony shrugged him off while Gibbs groans loudly.

"Why is he in a bad mood?" McGee asked Tony with a frown.

"no cases" Tony said

"Right, we've had no cases all week, Tony...where's Ziva?" McGee asked. Tony gave him a _how would I know _ turned to face them.

"I can hear you talking about me" He snapped. Tony and McGee exchanged glances. Tony attempted to explain.

"We're just saying..." He began but Gibbs interupted him.

"Quiet week means trouble. A quiet week is death! A quiet week bodes bad news!" He turns around to face them. "And stop looking at me like that!" he said storming off.

"Where's Ziva?" he yelled. Tony and McGee shrugged.

"I haven't been out in the field in five days. I don't like being cooped up inside" Tony said whilst flicking paper balls at McGee.

"Will you please stop it" McGee retorted.

"Whatever you say McGoo" he said continuing to flick the paper balls in McGee's direction.

As if on cue, the elevator dinged and Ziva stepped out of it quickly, hastily made her way over to her desk.

"Ah hah, here she is!" Tony mocked and she shot him a deathly glare that shut him up instantly. Noticing the look on her face he softened instantly.

"Are you ok?" he asked getting up from his desk and making his way over to hers.

"I have a feeling" she said putting her head in her hands and massaging her temple gently.

"What kind of feeling?" McGee piped up.

"Your ninja senses tingling again are they?" Tony said in an attempt to lighten the heavy mood that had fallen across the room since she had arrived.

"I knew you wouldn't understand Tony, You never understand" she said almost sounding disappointed in him. He instantly felt guilty and placed his hand over hers.

"It'll pass" he said trying his best to comfort her.

"Do you promise?" she replied, he faith in him temporarily restored.

"I promise" he said. McGee watched the scene before him unfold but kept his opinion to himself for the time being.

"Ziva, where have you been?" Gibbs barked as he suddenly rounded the corner.

"I...I..." she began but the phone started to ring and the attention of all four of them was caught instantly.

"I'd almost forgotten what that sounded like" Tony said. Gibbs answered it immediately. The look on his face made Ziva's stomach churn. Gibbs hung up the phone quickly and made a dash for his bag.

"Have we got a case?" McGee said with excitement.

"We're going to Bethesda, Marine got shot"

"He's still alive?" Ziva asked.

"He won't be if you don't get your asses moving'" Gibbs said heading towards the elevator closely followed by his three trusty agents.

*

With thanks to Gibbs's murderous driving, Tony, Ziva and McGee stood outside Bethesda waiting for the amblunace.

"This case is weird. I thought they said the Marine was already going to be here?" Tony said checking his watch.

"This is the first case we've had all week and you're already complaining about it?" McGee argued.

"Where is the ambulance?" Ziva asked.

"You're in the dark as much as I am, I was under the impression the marine was already dead...but he isn't and the ambulance should be here any minute" Gibbs said appearing with several doctors by his side.

"Surely we are getting in the way by standing here?" Ziva wondered.

"A marine was shot, Ziva...it's our job to find out why" Gibbs said before a speeding ambulance skidded into the ambulance bay.

The back doors swung open to reveal a young paramedic helping a very powerful screaming lady who had blood spattered over her climb out of the ambulance.

Tony and McGee pass the screaming lady to Ziva who takes her into the hospital. There is another very young paramedic in the ambulance looking very nervous. Tony looked down at the Marine and noticed the young girl had her hand in a very large chest wound of the Marine.

"Oh my God!" Tony said, looking at Gibbs.

*

"Petty Officer Henrey Marlson. Aged 46. Paramedics found him unconscious and bleeding. Mechanisms of injury are unknown but he has a large sucking chest wound. And a wife with very healthy lungs" McGee said walking briskly down the hospital corridor in order to keep up with Gibbs.

"Is he going to make it?" Gibbs asked stopping to let McGee catch up with him.

"The doctors are still working on him" McGee replied. Gibbs went to enter the truama room in which Henrey was being worked on.

"Em, Boss...you can't go in there" McGee tried to reason with Gibbs to little effect.

"They call me all the way out here to make me wait in the hall? I don't think so McGee" he said pushing open the door.

"Doctor Pitt?" Gibbs called over the main doctor in charge of the case. The familar doctor looked up.

"Agent Gibbs. I see you got my call?..." he said above the noise of the bleeping machines. "How's his respiratory effort?" he redirected to a near by nurse.

"Yes I did, what's this all about?" Gibbs asked.

"Someone tried to shoot this marine, I thought you should know about it" Dr Pitt replied.

"Absent breast sounds on the right side. Air bubbling on the side of the wound. He's shocky and getting a little cyanotic" Another doctor shouted over the noise.

"My wife is …" Henrey stuttered. Gibbs turned to the sound of the screaming women outside the truama room. Ziva was trying her best to comfort her but this sort of thing wasn't included in her mossad training.

"Let's get him intubated and place an effusive dressing on the wound" Doctor Pitt instructed.

"Who are you?" Gibbs asked the girl who still had her arm inside Henrey's chest.

"I'd appreciate it if you left the interrogation the moment" Dr Pitt said.

"Lucy, Lucy Harris" she replied shakily to Gibbs.

"Lucy, why do you have your hand inside this patient?" Gibbs asked, realising how scared the young paramedic looked. The other paramedic interrupted.

"I'd like to say for the record that I told her not to" he said frowning at Lucy.

"I tried to tampon out the wound with gauze and pressure but the only thing that would stop the bleeding was my hand. Every time I tried to move it he starts bleeding out. Can I take my hand out now?" She asked.

"You don't stick your hand inside of a patient when you don't know how he was injured. You don't stick your hand inside of a patient at all." The paramedic yelled at her.

"Yeah, I know that now!" She shouted back almost hysterical.

"I think you should leave" Gibbs ordered to the paramedic.

"She gets to stay?" The paramedic scoffed.

"If you hadn't noticed, She has her hand stuck inside the patient" Gibbs said leaping to Lucy's defense. Lucy smirked at the paramedic who looked very annoyed.

"I'll need you to speak to one of my colleagues" Gibbs told the paramedic as he left the room very disgruntled. Once he had gone, Lucy turned to Gibbs.

"Nice. Thanks" She said greatfully to Gibbs.

"Oh don't be happy. You have your finger on a major bleeder. Mr. Marlson is running out of time. The only thing that you've won is an all expense paid trip to the O.R. by the looks of things" he said smiling sympatheically at her.

"Dr. Redway, prepare to transport her to the O.R and let's make this happen quickly people" Dr Pitt Yelled. "Just another day at the office, huh?" Dr Pitt smiled at Gibbs.

"Tell me about it!" Gibbs replied.

*

Tony stood in front of Petty Officer Marlson's screaming wife with Ziva cringing at the sound.

"She's been going at least 15, 20 minutes. This must be like some kind of record" Tony said frowning at her.

"Look at her. She is not even turning red" Ziva observed.

"Good for her. Boss says shut her up" McGee said taking a place next to Tony.

"Right, I'm heading over to the Marlson residence to collect the evidence with Gibbs once Petty Officer Marlson has gone up to surgery" McGee said hoisting his back pack over his shoulder.

"I thought Boss said for you to shut her up!" Tony said

"No Boss told me to tell you to shut her up." McGee replied smuggly.

"I will go and see what is keeping Gibbs" Ziva said, leaving Tony alone with the scremaing women. He sighed in wonder of how to approach the situation.

"Ma'am. Ma'am" He began but the women just screamed at him even more

"Mrs. Marlson. Are you injured?" He tried again in vain to get the horrific screaming to subside but her screaming just continues which is very annoying.

"I need you to try and calm down. Mrs. Marlson. Can you hear me?" He asked. After getting no response whatsoever he asks her again but a little bit louder.

"Can you hear me?" he asked, trying to be as tolerant as possible.

Mrs Marlson just screamed. Tony, fed up, got up to close to Mrs Marlson and screamed loudly into her face. Mrs Marlson stopped instantly stopped screaming in shock. Tony sighed with relief, the screaming however was still ringing in his ears at having been exposed to it for so long.

"Good. Okay. Now can you tell me exactly what happened to your husband?" Tony asked a lot more quieter that he had done previously. Mrs Marlson substituted her loud screaming with crying instead.

Tony sighed with his hands on his hips and looked up at the ceiling in defeat.

*

"Ziva, I want you to stay here and wait for Petty Officer Marlson to come out of surgery...Me and McGee are going to check out the scene" Gibbs said in a hushed whisper. They are both outside the Operating Room. Ziva nods her head in response.

"What about Tony?"She asked, not really sure why Gibbs doesn't seem to think anything of it.

"He'll be getting a statement off Mrs Marlson...ok? Call me as soon as he gets out of surgery" he says turning to leave Ziva outside the operating room.

"Gibbs?" Ziva asked cauciously.

"Everything alright?" he asked noticing the insecurity in her voice.

"I have a feeling" she said, kicking herself at how stupid it sounded coming from her of all people.

"I get those...a lot" he admitted.

"It's a bad feeling, something bad is going to happen" she told him. The tone of her voice freaked him out a little.

"No one is dying today, Ziva" Gibbs said. Before leaving her outside in the hallway alone. She pushed the door to the Operating Room open whilst placing a mask and called over to Lucy who was all scrubbed up with her hand still inside Mr. Marlson.

"How are you doing over there?" She asked.

"My hand is getting numb and I gotta tell ya, this whole insides are all bloody and squishy thing is so not good for my gag reflex. But I'm good. Is this okay? Me being in here like this"

"Once Dr. Pitt scrubs in. He'll have you remove your hand and then you can go." Ziva said reassuringly earning a nod from Lucy

"Good. Cause I know how much medicine I know and it's just enough to never be allowed in an O.R. It's my second week. As a paramedic. I got out of school about a month ago" Lucy admitted.

"You are doing great" Ziva said. Lucy looked up at Ziva.

"Thanks, what's your name?" Lucy asked.

"Ziva David...I am with NCIS" Ziva replied.

"Oh, that's hebrew isn't it?" Lucy said. Ziva nodded.

"I am NCIS' Mossad Liason Officer" Ziva said propping open the door a bit further.

"Mossad...sounds dangerous" Lucy said. When Ziva didn't respond Lucy looked down.

"Sorry" Lucy apologised, sensing the uneasiness that surrounded Ziva.

"It is ok" She answered,more to herself than Lucy.

"So..." Lucy began as an awquard silence fell upon them.

"Do you have family around here? A boyfriend?" Ziva asked as a conversation starter.

"No, no boyfriend. My parents live in Philidephia...I couldn't wait to leave" Lucy said laughing a little. "What about you?" she asked. "Does your family live in Israel?"

"Yes, I can't really say I get on too well with them either" She said.

"There's no ring on your finger? Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked. Normally, Ziva would find this incredibly rude but assumed that this was down to pure anxiety that Lucy was asking questions like this.

"No...but there is this one guy..." she began but Dr Pitt and his team of surgeons swarmed in.

"Officer David? Would you like to scrub in?" Dr Pitt offered. (**A/N I know this would never happen in real life) **"I think Lucy could use a friendly face" he finished.

"Ok, If it's not breaking any rules or anything" she replied.

"You're NCIS, I trust you and Gibbs" he replied.

*

Tony rubbed his forehead as he felt a head ache coming on. Fortunatly for him Mrs Marlson had stopped crying. One of the nurses had helped Mrs Marlson change into a hospital gown and took her bloody clothes from her. Tony is at her bedside.

"All this blood and none of it's hers?" Tony asked.

"Yeah she's fine. Acute-anxiety reaction. The doctor gave her 2 diazepam P.O to calm her down" The nurse said signing off Mrs Marlson's chart.

"We'll need her clothes for evidence" Tony said. The nurse nodded and smiled.

"Of course, I'll go get a bag in just a second" the nurse said.

"She in shock?" Tony asked.

"I'll say" Mrs Marlson said before the nurse could reply. She shares a look with Tony.

"Can you tell me exactly what happened? I'm Tony DiNozzo from NCIS" He said showing her his ID.

"You mean the shock part? It was shocking. I'm shocked. You tell my husband when I get my hands on him; He's a dead man! Do you hear me? Scaring me like this!" she said.

"Exactly how was your husband injured?" Tony asked, Pen and notepad at the ready when a man called out.

"Cindy? Cindy? Are you in here?" He called.

"I'm over here. Moron!" She yelled back.

A middle aged man looking fairly stressed out and dressed like a war veteran walked up to the group.

"How's Henrey doing?" he asked panting slightly.

"Oh he's bleeding all over the place. That's how he's doing!" she yells "The girl from the ambulance put her hand inside of him! That's how he's doing!" she screamed at him.

"What are you yelling at me for?" the man replied.

"Because, Tom! Because you and Henrey are like idiots! Playing like 8-year olds!" Cindy snaped. Tony tried to intervene but failed miserably.

"Okay we don't play. We re-enact" Tom snorted.

"You play! You put on your costumes and build your stupid toys and you play!" Cindy shouted.

"We re-enact" Tom said defending himself from his best friend's wife.

"Nobody re-enacts World War II. You moron!" Cindy yelled. Tony, giving up all hope of trying to get through the Cindy, turned to Tom instead.

"Exactly what happened?" Tony asked, pen poised at the ready.

"You wanna know what happened? What happened is my husband and his _moron_ best-friend-" Cindy began but Tom interupted.

"Can you stop calling me a moron?" he said.

"Moron best-friend! Decided to build some kind of big gun" she spat.

"Yeah an exact replica of the finest allied anti-tank weapon of World War II. The M19A bazooka" Tom said proudly. This was the stupidest thing Tony had ever heard but restrained himself from releasing his own opinion to let Cindy continue with the story.

"So they put on their stupid costumes and they go out into the backyard and they try to shoot the thing!" Cindy continued. Tony, by now, was thoroughly confused.

"I'm the gunner. James is the loader. Okay we follow the specifications exactly" Tom said to Tony to nodded in response.

"You should see it. It's a 60 millimeter. One and a half pound rocket. It's a beauty" Tom said, Tony shook his head in astonishment.

"It didn't work. So like an idiot my husband has to go and stand in front of his big gun to see what went wrong! That's when the stupid toy starts working!" Cindy shouts angrily.

"Stop calling it a toy" Tom says raising his voice.

"It's taken up half my garage. I'll call it whatever I want!" Cindy said through gritted teeth. Something suddenly dawned on Tony while Cindy and Tom were arguing. He put his hand up to silence the pair.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa, he shot himself with a bazooka?" Tony said, calculating the extent of the problem which he was amazed hadn't dawned on the two other people yet.

"Yeah!" Cindy snorted.

ALEX turned horrified to Tom "He shot himself with a bazooka?" he said again. He started to panic. Tom nods.

"Like I said, morons! The pair of them!" Cindy said.

"Was there an explosion?"Tony asked impatiently

"Huh?" Tom asked unware of what Tony was getting at.

"Was there an explosion?" Tony asked again insistantly.

"No. Why?" Tom said in confusion. The colour drains from Tony's face, his features worn with horror.

It suddenly dawns on Tom too. "Oh crap" He said, horrified. Tony sprints to the nurses station.

"Where's the OR?" He asked, trying to remain as calm as possible.

"The fourth floor, why?" The nurse asked but Tony was gone in a flash.

"Boss, we've got a problem!" Tony gasped into the phone while he kept running.

"What?" Gibbs said irritably.

"You need to get back here now!" he said snapping his phone shut.

"What? What is it?" Cindy asks completely unaware.

Tony legged it down the corridor as fast as he could jumping up stairs, three steps at a time. A doctor attempted to slow him down.

"Hey! Slow down!" He said trying to restrain Tony who ignored him and kept running.

*

In the OR. Ziva is scrubbed in and there are several doctors and nurses surrounding Dr Pitt who is about to start the surgery.

"Okay everyone. I'm going to do a throacotomy and Lucy here is going to pull her hand out. is going to clamp the bleeder when we have more exposure." Dr Pitt said professionally. He turned breifly to Lucy "Ready?"

"More than ready" Lucy replied, looking at Ziva.

"You'll be fine" Ziva assured her.

"Scalpel" Dr Pitt instructed. A nurse handed him a scalpel punctually.

*

Tony sprinted down the hallway, breathing hard and entered a stairwell.

*

"Okay, on the count of the 3. One." Dr Pitt said. Ziva held her breath.

*

Tony kept running but skidded to a halt to check a board to find which room Mr Marlson was in.

*

"Two." Dr Pitt said slowly. The tension building in the room was beginning to suffocate Ziva.

*

Tony was still running. He ran and ran until he felt his lungs beginning to burn. He grabbed a mask and held it too his face.

*

Dr Pitt was about an inch away from flesh and from making an incision and as he just pressed the scalpel against Mr. Marlson's skin. Tony slams open the door breathless.

"Dr. Pitt! I need to speak with you" He said panting heavily.

"Tony! What the hell are you doing!" Ziva snapped. Tony frowned.

"What are you doing in here?" He said sounding distraught with panic.

"I am in surgery Special Agent DiNozzo" Dr Pitt said sounding rather annoyed.

"You wanna talk to me" he insisted. Dr Pitt looked at him for a bit before handing the scalpel back to the scrubs nurse. Dr Pitt made his way over to Tony who stood at the doorway while the O.R team including Lucy and Ziva just looked over at the two. Ziva's heart raced.

"Special Agent DiNozzo, if you interrupt me in my O.R before-" he began but Tony cut him off.

"Was it through and through?" Tony interupted.

"What?" Dr Pitt said in disbelief.

"The wound on Henrey Marlson. Was it through and through?" he asked again.

"No, it was just an injury. No exit. Why?" Dr Pitt said alarmed by Tony's expression.

Lucy turns her head to Ziva

"He's cute. Is he single?" she asked Ziva. Ziva felt like saying no straight out but the look on Tony's face made her unable to reply. She just stared at Dr Pitt and Tony who were talking in hushed tones. The O.R team gave each other confused looks. The anaestheologist Dr. Stilton also looked confused.

Dr Pitt took one step back into the O.R and Tony half-closes the door watching.

"Lucy" Dr Pitt asked

"Yes, Dr. Pitt?" Lucy replied innocently. The sweetness in her voice made Tony's heart break.

"What do you feel? Inside of Mr. Marlson. What is your hand touching?" he asked in all seriousness.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked confused.

"Is your hand touching anything hard?" Tony asked. Ziva looked up at him, the look in his eyes was very unsettling.

"Hard?" Ziva replied in confusion.

"Like metal?" Tony nodded.

"Um, I don't know" She replied and attempted to move her hand

"Don't move your hand. Just tell me what you feel" Tony said sternly.

"Tony, what's going on? Where's Gibbs?" she asked, a hint of pleading in her voice.

" He's coming. Lucy? What do you feel?" he asked focusing on the girl.

"Um, my finger tips are touching something kinda hard." She nodded "Yeah, yeah definitely"

"Oh my god!" Dr Stilton gasped in realisation.

"Dr. Milton!" Dr Pitt said sternly.

"What? What's wrong?" Lucy said panicking.

"Lucy, I don't want you to move. Not your hand, not your body. Not an inch" Tony said calmly.

"Okay you should know your starting to scare me" Lucy said shakily.

"Don't be scared. Everything is going to be fine" Tony said. He turned to Ziva.

"Ziva could you ah-" He motioned with his head for Ziva to come forward. Ziva left Lucy's side and walked up to him looking very confused.

"I want you to walk out of this room. Gibbs is waiting outside. Walk, do not run. Go and tell him that we have a code black" Tony said in a whisper, his lips were so close to her ear it sent shivers down her spine.

"I am sorry, code black?" Ziva asked. Cursing her lack of understanding the english language.

"Code black. Tell him that I am sure. And then tell him to call the bomb squad" He tells her. Ziva looked at him in concern.

"Go, now!" He said. She followed his instruction and left the room. Just like Tony said, Gibbs, McGee and Abby were all waiting outside the OR.

"Ziva what the hell is going on here?" Gibbs shouted.

"Ziva, why are you shaking?" Abby said approaching her to give her a hug.

"What are you doing here Abby?" She asked.

"I came to pick up Mr Marlson's clothes" She said holding up a clear bag.

"Ziva?" Gibbs said sternly.

"Tony said Code Black" she said.

"Are you sure, that is what he said?" Gibbs asked taking her by the shoulders.

"Yes, he said for you to call the bomb squad...the Marine was shot with an unexploded bazooka from world war two, a young paramedic has her hand touching it..."

"Inside him?" Abby asked

"She was trying to stop the bleeding"

"Oh my god" McGee gasped. Gibbs flipped out his phone.

"Can you imagine? What she stick her hand in there for anyway?" Abby said with her back against the wall.

"She was trying to save his life...it was all she could do to stop the bleeding" Ziva replied.

"And now she might die because of it" Gibbs said, "Bomb squad is on it's way, we are in charge of this building now until they arrive...the hospital is being evacuated as we speak"

Tony opened the door and steped outside into the hallway.

"What do we do now?" McGee asked

"I go back in and wait for the bomb squad. You leave. You all leave, it is NOT a request." Gibbs said. "Dr Pitt and Dr Stilton will remain in there with Lucy"

The other doctors and nurses that have already left the OR start to leave including Tony, McGee and Abby. Ziva remains where she is

"Ziva, come on...you heard the boss" Tony said taking her arm but she shrugged him away.

"Officer David..." Gibbs said.

"I'm staying...Lucy needs a friendly face" Ziva began.

"Ziva, this is not the time or place for friendly faces...you cannot stay here, go with DiNozzo, now!" he ordered but she remained where she was.

"Don't do this Ziva, please...come on" Tony begged but she stood her ground. Gibbs knew full well that he wouldn't be able to pursuade her otherwise.

"Ok, you can stay until the bomb squad arrives, then you MUST go...or I'll fire you're ass back to Israel" he said. Ziva looked at Tony and their eyes connected for a second. Tony didn't doubt how brave Ziva was and it was one of the things that made him fall in love with her. He always had...and now he was leaving her. He walked off with the others looking over his shoulder at her.

Dr Pitt emerged from the OR.

"The bomb squad will be here soon but until then, I'm in charge ok?" he said to Dr Pitt who nodded.

"All I need is Dr. Milton to keep him under. I can do the rest myself" Dr Pitt replied.

"Fine. I don't want anybody in here that doesn't need to be in this O.R. When the bomb squad arrives we'll take it from there" Gibbs ordered. Dr Pitt and Ziva nodded.

*

Lucy remained in the OR looking very nervous. Dr. Stilton slowly pumped the manual ventilator, an ampoule bag. Dr Pitt is standing a few feet away watching with Gibbs and Ziva close by.

"So, so I'm touching live unexploded ammunition?" Lucy said.

"I'm afraid so" Gibbs said

"Huh. Not the greatest feeling in the world" Lucy chuckled half heartedly.

"No. I guess not" Gibbs said

"And he's still out?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah" Dr Stilton replied.

"But he's not hooked up to the machine anymore?" Lucy reiterated

"I had Dr. Milton take him of the ventilator. The flow of oxygen posed a danger. The ampoule bag is breathing for him now" Dr Pitt confirmed.

"He can't hear me?" Lucy asked.

Dr Pitt shook his head "No"

Lucy nodded and looked down at her hand which was buried inside Mr Marlson.

"Lucy? Are you ok?" Ziva asked

"What if I just take my hand out really quickly?" Lucy asked panicking more and more by the minute.

"We'd have to ask the bomb squad that when they arrive but I'm guessing that would cause the ammo to shift and explode" Gibbs replied.

"Oh." Lucy nodded, teary eyed.

"Lucy?" Dr Pitt called out to her.

"Yeah?" She replied

"You're hand is keeping Mr. Carlson from bleeding out. You are keeping him alive." Dr Pitt said optimystically.

Lucy nodded and closeed her eyes "Right. And the bomb squad is coming?" She asked, tears starting to fall. The scene made Ziva's heart break. She stepped out from behind Gibbs and went over to Lucy.

"The bomb squad is coming" Gibbs assured her

"Okay. Okay" Lucy nodded again more and more teary eyes.

*

"We're having pre-op patients transferred to University Hospital and all trauma re-routed to DC General. There is no danger to the north, south and west wings of this hospital. Just the east surgical wing. That said anyone who wants to leave can leave. No-one stays unless they volunteer to stay, understood?" Tony boomed to the group of doctors and nurses crowded around him. The group nods and dispurses.

"Wow, Tony...you really controlled them!" Abby said impressed.

"Abby this is really serious, Ziva's up there with a bomb!" he said panicky.

"and Gibbs" McGee added.

"...and Gibbs" Tony added turning slightly pink.

A nurses appoaches him

"Special Agent DiNozzo, the Bomb Squad just arrived" She said before before called away to another patient.

"Great, thanks" Tony said whilst ruffling his hair.

"Whose in charge?" asked a tall man with a regular build. He was wearing a bulky bullet proof vest and had at least 10 armed men behind him.

"My boss is upstairs, we're NCIS, the patient is a marine" Tony said

"Makes no difference to me" the guy said. "The names Guy Younger, Bomb Squad" he said.

"We guessed" Abby said sarchastically.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS" Tony said extending his hand. When Guy didn't accept it, Tony frowned and followed him to the elevator.

"It's right this way..."

*

Gibbs was speaking on the Operating Room phone.

"Thanks Tony" He said before hanging up.

"Bomb squad has arrived" Gibbs said rushing out of the room.

"Brad, Ziva...with me" Gibbs instructed. Ziva exchanged a look with Lucy.

"It's fine" Lucy said "The bomb squad is here now, everything will be alright" she smiled weakly.

"I'll be back in a minute" Ziva said before following Gibbs out of the OR.

They were greeted by the bomb squad who had just come off the were closley followed by Tony.

"You the surgical team?" Guy asked.

"I am" Dr Pitt said stepping foreward. "These guys are from NCIS" he motioned to Gibbs and Ziva.

"Ziva! Gibbs!" Tony ran over to them. "Are you guys ok?" he asked.

"We are fine Tony" Ziva assured him.

"Guy Younger, bomb squad. All right spread out and check the area and then we'll secure the patient...Where are they?"

Gibbs points to the OR which contains Lucy, Mr Marlson and Dr Stilton.

"Dr. Pitt has them in there" he informed Guy.

" Right, the rest of this floor has been evacuated?" Guy asked

"It has. Yes" Gibbs nodded in response.

"Okay, you stay here. Nobody moves unless I say so...NCIS don't need to be here now, its not safe" Guy said.

"We're not going anywhere, we're here to help" Gibbs said standing his ground.

"You are not going in there, you can wait here, you hear!" Guy said, earning a nod from the quartet. "Agent Gibbs, Dr Pitt, with me" he beckoned. Gibbs went to follow him into the x-ray room closely followed by Dr Pitt but he turned around to face Tony.

"Tony, I need you to go back downstairs and find Mr Marlson's wife, give her an update" Gibbs ordered once Guy had disappeared.

"Why can't McGee do it? He's already down there!" Tony argued, the very thought of leaving Ziva near the bomb without him terrified him. Gibbs sensed this vibe from Tony and spoke in a hushed tone into his ear.

"Your feelings of this situation are compromising your ability to work on this floor...I need you to go" he said. Tony knew exactly what he was talking about but how could he have possibly known? Tony took looked at Ziva who smiled at him softly, taking in as much of the beauty on her face as he could. Gibbs watched the silent interaction between them and knew that when the time came, there was nothing he could do to stop them falling in love with each other.

"See you later" Tony said to them both. Ziva's eyes started to fill with tears but swallowed hard. He was gone.

*

McGee was sitting against the wall in a hallway overlooking the floor below filled with the police and hospital staff. Abby came over and sat down next to him and hands him half of her sandwich.

"Eat something" She said crossing her legs beside him.

"Who knew Tony and Ziva would be on a floor with a bomb?" McGee said nochalently.

"Yeah...I know" Abby replied taking a bite out of her sandwich. "They'll be ok though, McGee, Gibbs won't let anything happen to them" she said, patting his shoulder.

"Is it wrong that I'm jealous? It's alright that I'm jealous, right?" McGee turned to look at Abby.

"The fact that you're jealous because they might blow up the guy is not a reflection on our character. It's about feeling useless" Abby said wisely.

"Ineffectual" Said McGee in almost a whisper. He knew how crazy this feeling was, he was jealous of Tony and Ziva in so many ways. They were so close no matter how much they denied it-he was always the one on the side. And now they were on a floor, with a bomb, and could die...it was exciting, but he was just on the ground floor below.

"We should do something! Anything!" McGee said standing up. Abby smiled

"That's more like it...let's go up there" Abby said taking him by the hand.

"Abby we can't we're not allowed!" He argued.

"McGee! Do you want to be part of this or not?" She said heading towards the stairs. She turned around to see McGee still standing there.

"McGee, if they're going to die today I at least want to say goodbye" she said sadly, her tone changed completely. This statement snapped McGee and looked behind him before following her.

*

In the x-ray viewing room, Gibbs, Guy and Dr Pitt were looking at the x-rays of Mr. Marlson. Ziva is seated on the floor outside the Operating room. She was never going to doubt her feelings ever again. She had a feeling something bad was going to happen to today and now she outside a room with a bomb that could explode at any minute. She knew she had been in love with Tony for a long time but she didn't go with her feelings and now she might never be able to tell him.

*

"There is no telling how dangerous it is. We need more info" Guy said observing the x-ray before him.

"The longer we wait, the greater the chance he'll bleed out and die" Dr Pitt replied.

*

Lucy and Dr. Stilton were both still in the OR alone and as an extra precaution, they had been given and were wearing flak jackets. The tension and uneasiness in the room was suffocating.

"Pink mist" Dr Stilton whispered.

"Excuse me?" Lucy replied a little taken aback.

"That's what the bomb squad calls you when you blow up. Pink mist. I read that somewhere. Bomb goes off and anyone in range explodes into a billion pieces. You're liquid. There's nothing left" he said. Lucy's stomach began to churn at this. She coulnd't understand why he was saying this to her.

"...Just flecks of human flesh and blood. Pink mist. Sometimes they don't even find a finger. One minute you're a person, the next … you're bloody rain" he finished, staring at Lucy for a little bit. He suddenly holds out the ampoule bag to her.

"Here take this" he said.

"What?" Lucy stammered in fear. He wasn't going to leave her was he?

"Go ahead" he encouraged. Lucy did what she was told and took the ampoule bag with her free hand.(Hannah takes the ampoule bag with her free hand

"Now I want you to squeeze it in even beats. Okay?" he said. Lucy began to squeeze the bag.

"Now not too fast. Not too fast. There you go" he said rising out of his chair.

He started to back out of the O.R slowly and turned to leave. He reached a different door to which Ziva was on the other side of.

"Dr. Stilton?" Lucy said desperatly.

"I've got kids" He said with a sad smile on his face. Lucy was shocked as she realized that he was leaving her alone.

" Even beats, okay? That's it" He said leaft the OR and leaving Lucy thoroughly scared by herself.

*

Tony was severely worried. Once he'd come back down stairs he had tried to find McGee and Abby but he could not find them anywhere. He was sat in a conferance room with Mrs Marlson.

"What about my husband? How long can he stay like that with live ammo inside him?" she said, her voice raw with distruaght.

"I honestly don't know" he replied avoiding eye contact. All he wanted to do was yell at her because he husband was probably going kill the love of his life.

"You're going to try to save him, right?" She asked. Tony sighed.

"The doctors are trying everything they can. First the bomb squad has to determine the best way to retrieve the device" he said. He noticed Tom come up behind them.

"I'm sorry Cindy. I'm so sorry" he begged.

"Shut up. We've got 3 kids and you've got him building bazookas!" she said. She turned back to face Tony "Oh god. He's gonna die." She started to cry again.

"My team are up there too! They might die too! The love of my life, is up there too...I might never see her again!" he yelled. He shut himself up instantly regretting the unprofessionality of his outburst. Cindy sits down stunned to silence.

"Ah Tom, why don't you go with officer there and answer his questions about the device you guys built" Tony suggested, he really couldn't face discussing the thing that was capable of killing his team.

"Oh anything, anything to help" Tom said dissapearing. A nurse appears at the doorway.

"Agent DiNozzo, your Director is on the phone" she said. Tony groaned as he got up from his seat.

"Uh Nurse, why don't you get Mrs. Marlson a cup of coffee?" Tony said. The nurse nodded and left, Tony went to leave but Mrs Marlson spoke up.

"I guess I should look on the bright side. It's not like this can get any worse. I mean this is it … this is bad as it gets, right?" she said. Tony was silent.

*

Ziva was still sat outside the OR when she began to hear faint foot steps that were getting closer and closer. Suddenly the stairwell door opened and Abby and McGee appeared. Ziva got up.

"What the hell are you doing up here?"She asked for the second time that day.

"We couldn't just stay down there doing nothing" Abby argued.

"It's dangerous, Abby you must go back" Ziva said. Abby shook her head.

"Where's Tony?" McGee asked.

"Gibbs sent him downstairs" Ziva said, the very mention of his name brought tears to her eyes. "You guys should really go, Gibbs will spill you when he sees you here" she said.

Neither McGee or Abby felt the need to correct Ziva's mishap of english at this moment, feeling it wasn't really necessary.

"Where's Gibbs and the bomb squad?" McGee asked, observing the quietness of the hallway.

"They are in the x-ray room assessing Mr Marlson...they have been in there for a long time...trying to figure out how to not blow everyone up" she said almost silently. Abby marched over to her.

"Don't talk like that Ziva, you're the brave one! You chose to stay here with Lucy, for Lucy...Gibbs and the bomb squad will figure something out, Dr Pitt will save Mr Marlson and everything will be fine.

"So how are they going to remove that ammo without killing him and James?" Abby asked as she walked up to the outside of the OR with Lucy and Henrey Marlson.

"Abby!" Ziva followed her quickly. "The bomb squad guy said you're suppost to stay away from there!" Ziva said

Abby peered into the OR through the window on the door. "Is it me or is she shaking?" Abby said. They both looked in. They saw Lucy shaking and squeezing the ampoule bag.

"Is she squeezing that ampoule bag by herself?" McGee said in shock.

"Where's the anaestheologist?" Abby looked from Ziva to McGee.

They opened the door slowly. Lucy was by herself and looked very pale. She was also shaking very badly but she was still squeezing the bag. She was very nervous and teary-eyed and scared.

"Lucy?" Ziva called over. Lucy looked up at her "Where's the anaestheologist?"

"He um … he left" she said "I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die" she whispered to herself through tears. She struggled not to cry and breathed erratically.

" Lucy" Ziva called.

"I think I'm going to take my hand out now" Luct said starting to cry, her breathing was shaky.

*

Completely unaware of the developments, Gibbs, Guy and Dr Pitt were still in the x-ray room.

"When the hell are people going to learn?" Guy said in disbelief.

"Well it may not be as bad as it seems" said Dr Pitt optimystically.

"Her hand is holding that device steady" Gibbs said observing the x-ray.

"Or maybe her hand is simply in there with the ammo. We can't know" Dr Pitt sighed scratching his head.

"Well my guys talked to the friend. That device is home made which means it's unstable and very unreliable. It could be a dud but we have no way of knowing. Add that to the fact you've got a nervous paramedic's hand in the body cavity" Gibbs said.

"It's definitely as bad as it seems" Dr Pitt said changing his tune.

"That's what I'm saying" Guy argued.

"Hey, somebody help! Help here!" They heard a voice call out from the OR. Gibbs frowned, he knew that voice from anywhere.

"Abby?" he thought.

They all sprinted from the room and across the hall to the other O.R. Gibbs, Dr Pitt and Guy entered the O.R. Abby was now pumping the ampoule bag. Ziva and McGee were standing either side of Lucy trying to comfort her.

"I think I'm going to take it out now" Lucy said clearly upset.

"Okay we're almost to the finish line. You can do this" Ziva said, trying to sooth the young girl.

"No, no. No, I just want to take it out and be done with it" Lucy said hysterically through tears.

"Lucy, It won't be much longer. Remember you're keeping him from bleeding out" Dr Pitt told her reassuringly but it was having little effect.

"No!" Lucy gasped through gritted teeth "I am 22 years old! I should not even be in here! This is some kind of mistake!" She cried hysterically.

"She's panicking. We need to clear the room." Guy said to Gibbs.

"I am not leaving" Ziva said stearnly.

"David, let's move! Abby, McGee!" Gibbs ordered.

"I am not leaving her, Gibbs" Ziva replied.

"Get everyone out now Gibbs". Guy said desperatly.

"She's my agent. I am responsible for her." Gibbs said.

Ziva placed her hand on Lucy's arm that was inside Henrey. Everyone began to talk at once.

"No, it's gotta come out! It needs to come out!" Lucy said breathlessly.

"McGee, Abby! Go with Dr Pitt" Gibbs said trying to remain as calm as possible.

"It's alright. Lucy, look at me!" Ziva tried to reason with the young girl.

"NO! It's gotta come out. No, NO!" Lucy said shaking her head.

"Lucy, look at me. You can do this...you have come this far!" Ziva said starting to panic herself.

"Lucy, you need to calm down. You need to relax. Everything's gonna be fine" Gibbs said

"No!" Lucy said shaking her head vigourously. Her tears were spilling over her eyes by now, her eyes red and raw.

"It's ok Lucy, you're doing great" Abby said.

"Hannah. You can do this" Gibbs said.

"No. It has to come out...I can't bear it any longer!" Lucy shouted

"You keep it there. Just a little while longer" McGee said.

"I have to! I have to!" She yelled, pulling her hand out fast. Gibbs, Abby, McGee, Dr Pitt and Guy all fell to the ground with their arms above their heads. Ziva was still standing as she watched Lucy run to the door. As she opened it she left a bloody hand print on the wall as she ran out. Ziva just stared after Lucy as the door shut slowly.

Abby stood up slowly and saw that Ziva now had her hand inside Henrey Marlson. Gibbs stood up as well.

"Ziva!" Abby whispered in shock.

Ziva whispered inaudibly in hebrew. Guy stood up as well closely followed by McGee. Guy moved to go up to Ziva.

"Just stay right where you are. Nobody move. Stay exactly where you are" Guy said. Ziva looked up and her eyes caught with Gibbs. She took a slow deep breath trying to process what she had just done.

"What did I do? What did I do? What did I do? What did I do? What did I do?" She whispered to herself and she took a deep breath "What did I do?" she breathed again

"What did I do? What did I do?"


	2. Chapter 2

Tony had finished explaining the situation to Vance and hung up. He suddenly noticed that the nurses station had become swarmed with police. He leant over to attract the attension of the nearest nurse

"What's going on?" He asked politly. The nurses looked at him uncomfortably.

"Uh something happened in O.R 3" She said

"What?" he asked, the nurse looked at him as if she thought she shouldn't be talking to him.

"I don't know." the nurse replied before answering the phone that suddenly started blaring out over the din.

McGee walked past the nurses station when Tony spotted him.

"Hey!Where have you been?" Tony yelled grabbing him by the arm.

"Upstairs, me and Abby went to check to see how things were going" he replied. Tony let go of him and McGee ruffled his jacket.

"What happened? Gibbs sent me back down here!" Tony asked impatiently.

"Quiet week. Quiet week is what's happening!" McGee said. Tony sighed.

"Just tell me what's going on" Tony said trying his best not to loose his temper.

"Boss said we had to find the hospital administator and let them know what's going on" McGee said, choosing not to inform Tony of the details of what was going on up in the OR.

*

Guy slowly strapped a flak jacket to Ziva. He was wearing one himself. Abby was already wearing a flak jacket and was squeezing the ampoule bag.

"You realize how stupid that was" Guy said.

"It was Zi. Incredibly stupid!" Abby sighed with worry.

"Okay you know when you don't need to be made fun of? Like when you've got your hand inside a body that's got a bomb in it and a stranger is velcroing a flak jacket to your boobs" Ziva said, her expression made Abby smile a little.

"Okay" Abby replied.

"You've got a sense of irony" Guy said whispering in her ear.

"Only when things are really ironic." She said. She turned to Abby slowly "… I had a feeling...Abby" Ziva said, her voice wavered slightly. Abby looked at her eerily.

"What's that?" Gibbs butted in from the corner.

"Nothing" Ziva replied.

*

Dr Pitt stood outside for a moment before walking determinedly into O.R 3. He walked in to see Guy stood against the table against the wall watching. He nodded to Gibbs who approached Abby slowly.

"Time for you to go" Gibbs whispered into Abby's ear. She shuddered.

"No I'm staying" she replied looking at Ziva.

"There's nothing more you can do here. We've got it covered. This ammo can go off at any time and kill everyone in this room. Do you get that? You can not be in here" Gibbs told her. She looked at Ziva who smiled at her.

"We'll be fine." Ziva said. Abby stared at her knowing full well that Ziva clearly wasn't ok. "It's okay." Ziva assured Abby. Abby nodded and let Gibbs take over the air bag. She turned to him.

"You know in the movies how there's always the heroes and then there's the other guy? You know the guy who sees danger and runs in the opposite direction?" she asked him.

"Yes" he replied.

"Be the other guy" she said. She began to walk away but she paused.

"What should I tell Tony?" She asked. Gibbs looked over to Ziva who was now teary-eyed.

"Tell him I'm fine" she said. Ziva watched Abby leave the OR before turning back to face Gibbs, Dr Pitt and Guy. She takes a deep breath to calm herself.

"You're doing a good job of that Agent Gibbs" Dr Pitt motioned to the air bag that Gibbs was holding.

"Thanks" Gibbs nodded at the light conversation that was blatantly avoiding the harsh reality that was to come.

"So you have a plan right?" Ziva asked " You have a way to get me out of this right?" she looked at Guy who just stared back at her blankly.

*

Tony, McGee and Abby were seated on the floor in the main entrance to Bethesda hospital. There was an awquard silence between them.

"I felt colors are brighter. Does anyone feel like colors are brighter? My head hurts" McGee said.

"It's adrenaline. You have the smell thing, cause I have like this crazy-" Abby

"Shut up!" Abby interupted.

"Are you okay?" McGee asked.

"Of course she's not okay. How could she possibly be okay? You're insensitive" Tony retorted.

"I'm not insensitive" McGee argued

"McInsensitive" Tony teased..

"Would you two just shut up! Nobody cares if the blue is bluer or if you have super smelling powers! Ziva could die. Any minute she could just … die. Actually stop living … Dead … Corpse …" Abby said trailing off.

"Should we like, should we like do something? Call Ziva's family?" McGee suggested.

"We are Ziva's family" Tony replied staring into space. Abby and McGee exchanged a glance.

"How's the paramedic, Lucy?" Tony asked. Neither Abby or McGee told him what had really happened.

"Lucy?" Abby asked pretending she didn't know what he was talking about.

"The girl with the bomb" Tony reminded her.

"Oh, uh she's hanging in there too" McGee asnwered as he sensed Abby had clammed up.

A nurse approached them and the three of them looked up at her.

"Special Agent McGee?" The nurse said holding some rolled up papers.

"Yes?" McGee replied.

"Here's the blueprints you asked for". She said handing them to him.

"Ah, thanks" he said taking them from her. She walked off and he removed the elastic band and rolled the papers open.

"Why do you need blue prints?" Abby asked.

"Something occurred to me why I saw the ampoule bag...They turned off the oxygen supply to the OR but we didn't check where the main central supply actually was..." he said scanning the maps quizzically. His face pales.

"What?" Tony asked.

*

"Is this the strangest thing that has ever happened in your O.R?" Ziva asked Dr Pitt how had taken over Gibbs with the ampoule bag. Gibbs was seated opposite Ziva.

"I'd have to say that it is" Dr Pitt laughed a little, he turned to look at Gibbs.

"Good, cause I am very competitive" she replied seriously.

"All the best Agents are" Dr Pitt said

"I am not actually an Agent, I am a mossad liason Officer" Ziva replied.

"Oh" Dr Pitt replied. Gibbs sniggered.

*

Abby, Tony and McGee and crowded over the blueprints in the conferance room.

"This must be a mistake, that's the second floor" Abby pointed.

"Not it's not, it's quite clearly the fourth floor" McGee argued. Tony remained silent. The door was pushed opened slightly and Mrs Marlson's tired frame appeared.

"Is, is there any news?" She asked weakly.

"What?" Tony said harshly but he soften when he relaised it was Mrs Marlson, "Sorry, Mrs Marlson, what can we do for you?" he asked.

"My husband. I was wondering if there was any news because you look so worried. And I heard this doctor saying that even though that girl's got her finger on the tear in his heart, that my husband is losing blood. Every second he's losing blood. Which means he could die? He could die? I ask because I know you'll me the truth because you look so worried" she finished.

"Mrs. Carlson ..." he began. He contimplated lying to her but he changed his mind "Yes it's possible he could bleed out and die if the doctors don't operate soon" he said sorrowfully.

"Okay. Okay." She nodded, "Thank you for telling me the truth." she started to cry "I'll just ah, I'll just go wait over here" she said walking away.

"That poor woman" Abby said sympathetically.

Guy appeared at the door.

"We're good to go. My team's in place. Dr. Pitt is ready. Patient's in stable condition. We can have the bomb out in under 10 minutes if I'm not interrupted again" he said sounding postive. McGee rose from the chair.

"In the O.R they put the patients under general anaesthesia" McGee began.

"Yeah?" Guy shurgged.

"That involves a steady flow of oxygen" McGee finished. Guy looked concerned and suddenly walked into the room and shut the door behind him.

"Well can't you turn off the oxygen in my O.R?" he asked.

"We can and we have. But this is your O.R" he said pointing to the blueprints that lay before him. "This is the O.R's floor main oxygen line...directly underneath OR 3." McGee said, silence fell in the room.

*

Gibbs and Guy were whispering to each other at the doorway of O.R. 3., making Ziva extremely uncomfortable.

"Stop it" she said and they stopped instantly.

"What?" Gibbs said.

"The two of you are looking at me like that. Like I am going to freak out at any minute. I am not gonna freak out so whatever it is just tell me straight out." She answered.

Gibbs moved away from the door to stand directly in front of Ziva.

"The main oxygen line runs directly under this room." Gibbs tried to explain.

"Okay" Ziva replied, Gibbs just stared at her "Not okay. … Well? I need one of you two to tell me what this means exactly. Because I think I know what it means. But I tend to be glass half-empty these days so I won't trust what I think it means. Because what I think it means if the bomb were to explode over the oxygen line the hospital could blow up. … And that's just crazy right?" she questioned them but got no reply.

Guy walked back into the OR and stood next to Gibbs.

"Ziva, all it means … is that we have to move" he explained.

"Move?" Gibbs and Dr Pitt said together at once.

"That's right. We have to move" he said. He turned to Gibbs "Now because I don't want to spend another second in this room"

Ziva shook her head. "Wait. I cannot wiggle my fingers because we cannot shift the ammo. And now you want to roll out the entire gurney?" she asked incredulously.

"Well that's our safest, safest option" Guy concluded and nodded to Gibbs.

"So we move. Not a problem. We can do this. You handling this David?" Gibbs asked

"I'm handling this" she replied mimicking Gibbs' expression although she wasn't entierly sure what it meant.

*

McGee was sitting down on the stairs of a stairwell, unable to cope with people around him constantly asking him what was going on; he just needed to be alone for a minute because he couldn't cope with Tony for a second longer. He slammed the door shut with his foot obviously frustrated. He heard a crying noise coming from a few flights of stairs below. He stood up and looked down.

"Hey" he called. The person looked up and was Lucy the paramedic.

"You okay?" he asked/ Lucy just looked down and McGee began to descend the stairs to meet her.

"Wait, are you bleeding?" he said taking her hand.

"I, I think I fell ah- I was running um- and I fell. It's okay" Lucy replied wipping her eyes.

"Your Lucy, right?" he asked.

Lucy nodded slightly "Yeah." She said quietly.

*

In the O.R hallway, Gibbs, Dr Pitt, Guy, 2 other bomb squad officers and Meredith were moving the gurney with Henrey very, very slowly.

"You're doing great, Ziver" Gibbs said, Ziva nodded gently.

"Let's go over it again" Ziva suggested to reassure herself for than anything else.

"The device is shaped like a rocket. About 8 inches long. We're going to have everything ready. Dr. Pitt's team is going to be in place. My team is going to be in place. And I'm going to ask you to take the hand that you have in Mr. Marlson, wrap it around the device-" He said

"...and pull it out" she interupted.

"Level. Pull it out while keeping it level" he corrected her.

"You know I don't like you very much" Ziva began to Guy who snorted.

"I don't like you either" he replied.

All of sudden they hit a metal bar across the floor and the whole gurney bangs to a stop.

"All right everybody. Let's keep placing one foot in front of the other. Nice and slow. Alright Ziva we're almost there" Guy coached.

"Okay" Ziva replied closing her eyes.

"We're almost there. Nice and Easy. You ready?" He said

"Yeah" Ziva nodded.

"Alright let's go. Nice and slow" Guy whispered. They moved the gurney slowly over the bar on the floor and continued on.

*

McGee was sat in the ER with Lucy while a nurse is stitching up her hand.

"Lucy, uh is there someone you'd like me to call? Family or maybe friends?" McGee asked.

"No" Lucy shook her head. She suddenly looked up to face McGee. "That agent …"

"Who? Ziva?" McGee asked.

Lucy nodded "Is she?..." she paused

"She's still there." McGee replied

"So she's still alive" Lucy clarified.

"She's alive" McGee nodded.

Lucy sighed with relief "She's still alive" looking upset. McGee noticed this and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Dr. Stilton shouldn't have left you. He's a coward" McGee said. Lucy shook her head.

"I'm a coward" Lucy corrected him.

"No" McGee replied.

"I ran away. … You think you're going to be different. You think you're gonna be the kind of person who stays and does something" she shook her head "You know a good man in a storm. I'm a paramedic. I'm supposed to stay and do something. I'm not supposed to run away. I'm not supposed to hide under the stairs cause I left two people to die. I'm supposed to stay and do something. I ran away" she said. McGee rubbed her back sympathetically.

*

The team were now in the new O.R where the gurney carrying Henrey was in place. Dr Pitt was there with his team as was Guy.

"We're ready when you are." Dr Pitt said to Guy who nodded in response.

"We're good. Ziva?" Guy asked. Ziva looked a little scared which suprised Gibbs. He mused on the ways in which Ziva had changed ever since she first came the the states, sure she had changed a lot but it had been for the better. She was no longer a ruthless mossad killer, she was now a human being with feelings.

"Yeah." She asnwered.

"I'm going to extend the wound. When I cut the bleeding is going to enter the subline. If we're going to save Mr. Marlson you have to pull the ammo out immediately" Dr Pitt instructed.

"But remember remove it while keeping it level as possible." Guy added. Ziva nodded, "Nice and easy. No quick movements. Level" he reminded her.

"Right level" Ziva confirmed.

"You ready?" Gibbs asked Ziva.

"I uh … … Do I have a choice?" She asked, teary-eyed.

"You have to be ready" Gibbs replied

"Yeah I guess" Ziva nodded with confidence.

"Scalpel" Dr Pitt called.

"I guess I am ready" Ziva muttered to herself.

*

Abby was looking over at Lucy and McGee when Tony approached her from behind. Before he could see Lucy with McGee she turned him around.

"You ok?" he asked

"Yeah, everything's fine" Abby squeaked.

"Do you know how the girl with bomb is doing?" he asked. Abby attempted to change the subject.

"How are you holding up, it's been a heck of a day!" she said.

"I'm alright I suppose...You didn't answer my question Abby" he told her, she looked at him.

"Which was...?" Abby asked stammering at little.

"How is the girl with the bomb?" he asked her again. Abby looked conflicted for a second but then took a deep breath.

"It's Ziva" she said abruptly. Tony turned to her startled with horroe. "The girl with bomb is Ziva" she said. Tony's face paled.

*

Back in the OR, Dr Pitt had successfully prepared Mr Marlson, all that was left to do was for Ziva to remove the ammuntion from Mr Marlson's body cavity.

"I'm good. She can go" Dr Pitt said.

"All right now Ziva. Wrap your hand around the nose cone" It looked like Ziva was'nt paying attention as she looked around her as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Ziva!" Gibbs called and she kind of snaped out of it a little but stared off again.

"David!" Gibbs ordered, his voice breaking slightly.

"Ziva" Guy said. Ziva pulled down her scrub mask.

"Tell my father that I'm sorry, Gibbs, that I failed him as a daughter..." she began

"No. You hear me" Gibbs said

"You should make sure...Make sure that Tony get's back the DVDs I borrowed...and I owe Abby 3 Caf-Pows and I...I'm sorry for McGee that I was responsible for _some _of the pranks that got played on him...and, and tell Tony I..." she paused.

"What?" Gibbs said, tears forming in his own eyes. Over the years he had come to see the whole team as his family and the thought he would loose someone he thought of as a daughter broke his heart.

"Oh, he knows" she sighed. She looked off to the side again and was teary-eyed. A flash light was shone in her face.

"Ziva. His pressure's dropping. Ziva!" Dr Pitt urged shining the light again on her face.

"I can't! No. I can't. This is crazy. Gibbs, you have got to go? You go." She motions to Gibbs, Dr Pitt and Guy "All of you should go"

"Nobody's dying today, Ziva." Gibbs said softly.

"Ziva, I want you to look at me." Guy said. Ziva was starring at Gibbs, "Look at me" She turned her gaze to Guy who was standing directly in front of her. "I know this is mad. And I know that I'm this ass who's been yelling at you all day. So you pretend that I'm not. You pretend that I'm someone you like. Whatever you need. But you need to listen to me."

Ziva looked down and then looked back up again. She can't hear anything but her own breathing and the heart monitor. She saw Tony standing in front of her.

"I'm scared" She whispered.

"I know. You can do this. It'll be over in a second. … You can do this Ziva" he smiled.

"Okay." She replied

"Okay" he nodded proudly. Then he was gone again and it was Guy stood infront of her. Slowly Ziva started to pull out her hand.

"Gently" Guy whisperered. Ziva looking very scared and teary-eyed began to pull out the tip of the bomb. Ziva cried a little with relief as she handed the bomb very careful to Guy who is held his hands out stretched to receive it. She removed her hand taking a deep breath of relief.

"You did good" Guy whispered with a smile.

He started to move slowly away from the operating table. Ziva also backed away as Dr Pitt started operating on Mr. Marlson. Guy headed out the door. Ziva slowly followed him and Gibbs remained fixed to the spot. She walked out the door and stood in front of it watching. Guy was a few steps away ready to pass it off to another Bomb Squad member who was standing ready to receive the bomb. All of a sudden there was a large explosion.

Guy was instantly blew up. Ziva's breath caught in her throat.

The force was so strong that it flung Ziva backwards onto her back. It blew up various things in the hallway including nearby windows of adjacent O.R's and scrub rooms. The OR Which still contained Gibbs, Dr Pitt and Mr Marlson was unaffected.

Ziva was caked in debris, blood and flesh. Guy and the other bomb squad member were gone...it was like they were never there. The lights were all blown and everything seemed dark and dank. Some pieces of paper were light in small fires and were floating gently to the ground. Ziva lay unconscious on the floor

*

McGee and Abby waited nervously as Tony spoke on the phone. Abby clutched McGee's shirt tightly and he has his arm protectivly around her. Lucy was near by pacing in circles massaging her bandaged hand.

"What the hell is happening down there? Who's coming up? Okay." He said slamming down the phone.

"Alright people! They're coming down!" Tony yelled to the crowds gathered.

"Did Gibbs say what happend?" Abby said desperatly. Tony shook his head.

"No it was Dr Pitt...just that they were coming" he said solumly.

A whole group of interns, doctors and nurses gathered around Tony, Abby and McGee waiting for whoever was coming down the elevator. The elevator doors open revealing only Dr Pitt standing in there. He walks up to meet Tony and Abby.

"Where's Gibbs and Ziva!" Abby cried. McGee held Abby close to him. Tony went to open his mouth but no sound came out.

"Dr. Pitt Is my husband um … alive?" she asked tentitivly.

"Yes" he said with a smile.

"Is he … gonna stay alive?" she asked, daring to get her hopes up.

McGee noticed Lucy standing at the nurses' station a little away from the large group. He points to Lucy.

"Thanks to that young lady over there he is" McGee said.

"Thank you" She cried happily shaking Dr Pitt's and McGee's hand. She pulled Abby into a hug. The three of them however were in no mood for celebrations just yet.

Mrs Marlson walked up to Lucy crying and pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you. Thank you." Mrs Marlson said to Lucy as she wrapped Lucy in a tight hug.

"Where's Ziva is she ok?" Tony asked Dr Pitt. Dr Pitt's smile faded.

"The bomb detonated in the hallway while Agent Gibbs and myself where still in the OR. Ziva had followed Guy and his officer out into the hallway...she's gonna be fine pysically, she just has a bump on the head but mentally she's very shaken" Dr Pitt explained.

"Can I see her...er, can we see her?" Tony corrected himself. Dr Pitt smiled a little.

"Special Agent Gibbs is up there with her still...we thought maybe, Miss Scuito would be able to help her get cleaned up first" Dr Pitt told him.

"So I can't even see her?" Tony said his voice breaking.

"I'm afraid she is no fit state for visitors at the moment...she is not speaking to anyone" Dr Pitt said.

"She'll talk to me, I know she will" Tony said desperatly. McGee put a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Tony, let Abby sort her out. We'll see her soon" he said leading him away.

*

In the shower room. Abby helped a shell shocked Ziva still in her NCIS gear and surgery gown into the shower. She was still caked in blood and debris. She remove her surgery cap and gown but she still has on her pants and shirt. Gibbs briefly peers in...he had never seen Ziva look so empty. Abby guided her under the shower head and began wash the blood out of her hair.

*

Ziva was lying on her bed fully clothed looking out the window where it was pouring with rain. A knock at the door startled her and she sat up.

She swung her legs over the bed and made her way to the front door to answer it. She opened it to find Tony standing there dripping wet. Before she could even get the door fully open he boldly stepped in and sweeped her up in his arms. He held her small body to his as close as he could without suffocating her. As suprised as she was, it was welcoming and she let herself be moulded into his strong frame.

They seemed to stay like that for hours until he pulled away looking slightly embaressest.

"You nearly died today" he said

"Thanks for reminding me" Ziva dead panned.

"It was stupid what you did, you know" he scolded her.

"I know, I just had to" she told him shutting the door and leading him into her apartment.

"Nobody has to put their life on the line" he told her.

"It reminded me of Tali, Ok?" she snapped. She didn't mean to but the burdening pain of Tali's death did that to her in a way in which she had no control over.

"I'm sorry, Zi" he said, she smiled when she heard that...he was the only person who called her that, he was the only person she let them call her that.

"It's ok...what are you doing here, anyway?" she asked.

"Ziva, I thought you were going to die! I thought I was never going to see you again! When Abby told me you'd gone and stuck your hand inside that Marine I couldn't stop thinking about all the things that I'd said to you that I didn't mean and all the things that I wanted to say to you that I didn't have the courage to say...when the elevator opened and all I saw was Dr Pitt I thought I'd lost you. I can't loose you Ziva...I'd be lost without you" he said. Her eyes had glassed over during his little monologue.

"You don't need me Tony," she began but he interrupted her.

"After everything that has happened in the last few years you were the only person that kept my head above the water...when I was agent afloat, the chance that I might see you again stopped me from jumping" he said. They both took a step foreward at the same time their noses almost touching they were so close.

"Tony" she said barely whispering.

"Yeah" he replied huskily.

"When I had my hand on that bomb...the only thing that I could think was...I went to tell Gibbs that...to...to tell you...that...I..." She began but the lump in her throat began to rise and tears welled up in her eyes.

"...but I stopped because I said you already knew...Tony, do you know?" she asked, looking deep into his eyes. They were so very close she could feel his hot breath on her face. He wiped away her tears with his thumbs, he too was on the verge of tears. He gently cupped her face with his palms and brought their noses together.

"Yes...yes I do" he smiled through his tears as lowered his lips to meet hers.

[END]


End file.
